Picture: TODD LEWIS
A SUNNY day down the Bay became the perfect way for many to spend Saturday.
At least that was the case for more than 4000 people who flocked to Port MacDonnell on Saturday afternoon for the new-look Bay Escape Festival.
Aimed at celebrating the Port MacDonnell lifestyle, the Limestone Coast community was able to indulge in the region’s best food and wine at the event.
Festival coordinator Ryan Donovan said the fresh changes made to this year’s eventwas met with positive feedback from the community.
“We were pretty pleased with how the day played out,” Mr Donovan said.
“All our stall holders were happy and it seemed like people were spending most of the day at the festival, which was great.”
While the popular – and controversial – Octopus Throw was given the flick this year, the event was definitely not short of entertainment, with the Celebrity mechanical surfboard challenge attracting a good crowd.
Grant District Mayor Richard Sage, Jens Hotel manager Aaron Davis and event mascot Jay the Cray were just some of the star-studded contestants who accepted the challenge.
But in the end it was Port MacDonnell footballer Ben McGregor who won the crowd vote, knocking off Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell in a final round decider.
“Unfortunately Benny is the hometown favourite and he knocked me off, so well done to him,” Mr Bell joked.
“I used to do a bit of surfing, but I tell you what, that thing was a lot harder than it looked.”
Jokes aside, Mr Bell praised the organisers of the festival, hailing it as a great success for the town and the wider region.
“What a great day at Port MacDonnell though, it’s a real credit to the organising committee for putting on such a fantastic event, which local businesses were really able to benefit from.”
Mr Donovan said the new mechanical surfboard attraction was a reflection of the committee’s efforts to make sure the festival was still a family-friendly event.
“When you introduce a focus on food and alcohol it can become a fine balance to make it family-friendly, but I think we got that balance right,” Mr Donovan said.
“We abolished the entry fee and made things – such as the mechanical surfboard – free for people to try.”
Another significant change to the festival was the move to the street next to the new Waterfront precinct, which allowed local businesses to capitalise.
“When we first started engaging the local businesses regarding the new-look festival, we really wanted to make sure we could showcase them,” Mr Donovan said.
“From the feedback we have received from both The Bay Pizzaria and Periwinkles, it seems like they were busy all-day.
Reflecting on the success of the event, Mr Donovan said they would like to make it bigger and better in 2020.
“This year we knew we had to attract more young adults and we did that by increasing the offerings, which would appeal to that demographic – like live music all-day,” he said.
“We will now have a debrief and a bit of a rest before soon putting some ideas to paper for next year.”
The committee are already putting the wheels in motion as they prepare an application for $5000 in funding through the SA Government’s Community Events Development Fund to help fund an event website and additional permanent signage.
